Max Verstappen wins his maiden Chinese GP: Key stats
Max Verstappen was in a league of his own, dominating the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix. In a race that had two mid-race safety cars in quick succession, Verstappen was a class above the rest. However, safety cars broke up Red Bull Racing's chance of a one-two finish. Sergio Perez finished between McLaren's Lando Norris and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Here are the key stats.
58th race win for the Dutchman
With his 50th race win at the 2023 United States GP, Verstappen became the fifth to do so in Formula 1 history. Lewis Hamilton leads the way with 103 wins ahead of Michael Schumacher (91). Verstappen has now won his 58th race in F1. Notably, the Dutchman sealed 19 race wins in the 2023 season out of 22 races.
Verstappen sealed his 102nd career podium finish
By winning the Chinese GP, Verstappen sealed his 102nd podium finish. Earlier, he became the sixth driver in F1 history to clock 100-plus podiums. Verstappen, who won the F1 title in 2023 and 2022 respectively, went on to claim 21 podium finishes last season. Notably, in the 2022 season, he managed 17 podium finishes. He has 42 podium finishes since 2022.
A fifth successive pole for Verstappen in 2024
Verstappen, who set the pole earlier, became the first driver in the 21st century to take the first five poles of the season, Mika Hakkinen was the last to do so in 1999. On Sunday, the Dutchman clocked up his maiden win at the Chinese GP. Notably, the Chinese GP returned after a gap of five years. Hamilton won the last race (2019).
One way traffic!
Verstappen has won four of the five F1 races this year. He claimed the season-opening Bahrain GP and then won the Saudi Arabian GP. In Melbourne, he had to retire. Verstappen sealed the Japanese GP thereafter. Credit should go to Perez as well. He has claimed four podium finishes out of five races. In Australia, he finished fifth. Perez has utilized Red Bull's pace.
39th podium finish for Perez; 15th podium finish for Norris
Perez secured his 39th career podium finish. Meanwhile, Norris had a superb race to register his 15th career podium finish. It was his second podium finish of the season. He claimed second position in Melbourne.
Here are the top 10 drivers
1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 2) Lando Norris (McLaren) 3) Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) 4) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 5) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 6) George Russell (Mercedes) 7) Fernando Alonso (fastest lap) (Aston Martin) 8) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 9) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 10) Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
Constructor and Driver standings of 2024
After five races, Red Bull Racing lead the Constructor Standings with 195 points. Ferrari are second with 151 points. McLaren are third (96 points) and are above Mercedes in fourth (52). Among drivers, Verstappen has 110 points and is above Perez (85) and Leclerc (76).
A dominating race for Verstappen
Verstappen led in the first corner while Perez was passed around the outside by Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin. It took Perez until lap five to pass Alonso. Verstappen maintained his superiority over Perez before taking his first pit stop on lap 13. After lap 16, the Dutchman navigated the race to perfection. Perez was looking to finish second before the safety cars arrived.
Safety cars were deployed
Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas pulled off with an engine failure at Turn 11 on lap 20. The Bottas incident allowed Ferrari's Leclerc and McLaren's Norris to pit first and save time. Meanwhile, a second safety car immediately followed the first because of two incidents on the restart on lap 27. Norris upped his pace as Leclerc fizzled out. He eventually finished second.
